Two versions of this image for your viewing enjoyment… and it’s HDR Friday so they are, um, well… HDR’s. Taken in Zion National Park (which, by the way, I’ve wanted to go to since I moved to the 4 Corners region. So glad I went, and I need to spend much more time exploring this beautiful area). I believe this is the “Great White Throne”, but I”m not sure if I have the name right. I love how the different versions came out so vastly different. The great lighting on the mountain is more visible in the color version, but the black and white one is more intense, in my view. What do you think?

Will be available at www.kelleybard.com, come on by and check out what I have there when you get a chance!

The alt image to yesterdays “why kids don’t need to smile for every picture”. Laughing is a good exception. Although I was afraid to see what the father was doing behind my back to make her giggle so! By the way, I really love this little red cushion she is sitting on. The dress and toy were hers, but the cushion is a great prop for future images. Looking for more props constantly (I almost spent hundreds yesterday at Pier One, they had such cute props and pillows!!!).

See my photos at http://www.kelleybard.com, or find me on flickr, facebook, twitter, buzztown… or even in reality (in Durango, CO). Links are to the right in the virtual world 🙂

Enjoy. Tomorrows photo, I believe, will be a landscape of some kind. Prepping for the art show Saturday 6-8 pm at the Red Tent Women’s Center in Durango, CO! See you there!

I took this image because it had been stuck in my head for a while how I wanted to take a color-based image… really focusing on red tones, like this shot… maybe I’ll do others as the whim arises.

Here is another portrait image, filled with ideas- the toy prop, the slight smile, the parent behind me catching the kids attention. This is from my recent Easter shoot and I kept with the same white background for the entire shoot, so that hasn’t changed. I took this in studio, and hope that it helps you to decide some portrait ideas for when and if you come to me for work!

Things to remember (me) with this photo so I can make it that much better next time- light the background better and stretch out the dress so it hangs better on the girl! Maybe a top light as well? Hmm…

I liked this image but knew that it had some distracting elements and needed some oomph added. I don’t usually play with blur filters but I thought that a slight bit of zoom blur would be nice with this… so I applied that in Photoshop (after, I might add, removing some of the distracting blue tones in lightroom). I masked the blur off the blooms and then moved to OnOne PhotoTools, because I just didn’t think that Topaz Adjust had the look that I wanted. I do like a lot of what Topaz Adjust has to offer, but PhotoTools has so many filters that it’s just a completely different deal. Anyways, a few different filters added in brought out the slight glow and the bit of vignetting (another look I don’t usually do nowadays but it seemed good here). Back to Photoshop for a deep red filter (masked off the flowers again) and a trip through Topaz DeNoise to clean up the nasty noise… et voila!

I could have probably reproduced this look in Photoshop. But it was fun to find and use the filters in PhotoTools, and it comes out great… better than my fumbling fingers sometimes. I still haven’t tried to figure out the masking deal in PhotoTools, once I have that understood it will be a much more valuable tool (in my opinion). But even without that it’s still pretty damn nice to have.

I think it’s an improvement… maybe not the best flower pic in the world but one that makes me happier now. And right now I’m all about Spring, so any spring flowers will make me smile big!

I’ll put this plus other OnOne created images together soon in a comprehensive review.

I have a big chunk of work at www.kelleybard.com, and here and on facebook and flickr. I’ll be posting my monthly deal this week in one or all of those places, it’s usually a good deal for someone, maybe for you this time! Come back and check it out.

Not a fancy pic (in my eyes) but I liked it out of my latest fireworks shots, so I wanted to use it as a daily photo. Discussion over the next few days will be a bit sparse, due to family visiting, but I’ll post and leave a quick msg for all! Hope you enjoy the photo today.

See my website, flickr and/or facebook for more images to admire!

*Reminder that my BIG February deal (half off a classic 11×14 or that amt off a more expensive print) ends tonight at midnight, Mountain Time (US). Look at http://www.kelleybard.com if you are interested. PLUS, if you are the 1000th visitor you will get a FREE print (and that thousandth number is creeping closer, I get a few visitors daily and I’m only about 20 off right now!).*

One of my lighting tests… I love this color of Calla Lily, though. I don’t often leave my photos without a bit of white in there to give balance… this one is all dark and mid tones, though, and I like it just fine that way! I am going to be shooting a wedding with these colors this summer, and I can’t wait. Photoshop, with a touch of OnOne PhotoTools (and I’ll work on that review in the early part of next week), where I used a filter that gave just a touch more contrast and detail to the flower. Enjoy this piece of beauty!

Coming up tomorrow, I have a well-textured image of the sound between the Outer Banks and the Mainland… I’ve always liked this image and I finally finished it last night, so you guys will be the first to view it!